Naturalists and Visitors - Gower - page 23

cimens arrived in 1921 and the last in 1956 when he was over 70 years old. In collaboration with Arthur
Wade of the Museum, Webb wrote a number of manuscript floras including a partial copy for Gower that
was discovered in the library of Swansea University in the mid-1990s. The first and only published part
of this Gower flora was produced as a supplement to the Proceedings of the Swansea Scientific and Field
Naturalists' Society in 1956. Following the launch of the Gower Society Journal in 1948 Webb contrib-
utednumerousarticles,includingsomeveryusefulpiecesonthedevelopmentofnaturalhistoryinGower,
which have been used as guidance in this chapter.
One more important publication, The Natural History of Gower by Mary Gillham, was published in
1977.Gillham,whocametoCardiffin1961toworkfortheExtramuralDepartmentofUniversityCollege
Cardiff, was a founder member of what was then the Glamorgan Naturalists' Trust. Having previously
written a number of travel topics on Antarctica and New Zealand, she was asked to edit a topic on the
natural history of Glamorgan. Despite making contact with numerous researchers there were no contribu-
tions forthcoming, so she was asked to write the topic herself. Given her previous research background
on seabird islands Gillham started at the western end of the county with Gower, 'the gem as far as I was
concerned'. In the end so much information was collected that there was enough material for a topic on
the peninsula alone. Following the publication of the Gower volume she has single-handedly worked her
way eastwards through the former county, producing another nine local publications, including a number
for the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, and has finally completed the series, and the original aspiration, with
a topic on Cardiff and the Taff corridor.
Bird recording in Gower was greatly improved by the formation of the Gower Ornithological Society
in 1956 and the publication of checked and authenticated bird records by successive records secretaries.
One of the earliest secretaries was Robert (Bob) Howells, who has to be one the most dedicated of the
present-day Gower naturalists (Fig. 14). Although it is difficult, and certainly controversial, to single out
any contemporary naturalist for attention, Howells has painstakingly counted the birds off Blackpill and
intheinletandestuaryforoverathirdofacentury;inamagazinearticlein1991hecalculatedthathehad
seen 5 million wildfowl, 17 million waders and 4 million gulls. On one day in 1989 he counted 13,000
dunlin Calidris alpina. Howells has braved all weathers, including the deep snow of the 1962/3 winter, in
ordertocarryouthissurveys.Thisdedicationhasenabledhimtoproduceacomprehensiveaccountofthe
speciesusingthearea,andbecauseofhisworkitisnowknowntobethemostimportantestuaryinWales
for birds. A full list of current naturalists would also include, amongst many others, Harold Grenfell and
Derek Thomas for their work on birds, Quentin Kay, who has added thousands of new plant records for
Gower,TomMcOwatforhisstudiesofbatsandBarryStewartforhisresearchonmoths.Perhapsoneday
their history and exploits will be covered in more detail.